What to expect?

[Manok101]

I got one of the glass solar filters from Orion and was wondering what to expect as far as views. Will I be able to see solar flares? I know prominences won't be visible, but is that the same thing? I'm new to solar observing.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

If it's just white light, you won't see flares/proms. You'l see sunspots, the umbra around them, lightbridges, and maybe some surface granulation etc.

[umadog]

I know you're going to be observing in white light, but this is a nice article on what the different solar features are: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/halpha/ It's about h-alpha, but it's still worth reading from a scientific perspective.

Also take a look at this image: Issues On Call: Massive Solar Flares Coming Our Way?. It's an amazing (really amazing) shot of the sun in visible light. It's taken through a 10"! Taking such images is very hard indeed, but it's wonderful to see that it's possible with amateur gear.